Where to begin... It's been quite a while since I've sat in front of the computer to type an editorial. No, we didn't die. I was just hit with probably the worse case of life I've ever encountered. Since our last issue, a lot of things have happened. Some good. Some bad. Some have even redefined how things are going to be done here. Let me take you through the Bizarre Twists of the last six months...

Bizarre Twist #1: I'd like to give everyone the lowdown on why we had such a delay since the last issue. Looking back, I hadn't mentioned the main reason. A few weeks after the release of our last issue back in February, I made another life-changing transition. I moved from Chicago to sunny Los Angeles to begin working for a new startup company. Arrangement were made, apartment was packed and the adventure began. Little did I know where this road would take me. I arrived in California to find no job waiting. It threw me for a loop to say the least. For the next six months, I spent all my time trying to find a job again. Los Angeles didn't seem to be cooperating too well and I sometimes wonder if I should have stayed in Chicago, but I'm here now and things have finally stabilized. I'm now working for a great advertising agency in the Orange County area (Shameless plug: the agency, T&O Advertising, has a great website with lots of info. www.adagency.com Check it out!) and that means that more spare time can now be redevoted to getting out new issues.

Bizarre Twist #2: To make sure there's SOME anime relevance here in this editorial, despite all the problems this summer, I did have a good convention season. There was one particular event that was different for me. It was the Thursday night before Anime Expo. I had been at the Disneyland Hotel getting some press items taken care of when I had run into anime aficionado and producer Scott Frazier. We talked about a wide variety of topics for a while and eventually got around to the state of the anime industry. To summarize briefly, the anime industry in Japan isn't too well off at the moment. Budgets are shrinking. Artists are moving on to better paying fields. The stuff we love here in the US is slowly declining in quality and quantity. Granted, it'll take a while for us here to see the effects, but as the newer anime starts hitting the shelves, we'll feel it. Fortunately, American companies are starting to realize that in order to keep the anime world flourishing, some intervention and help needs to happen. Co-productions and financing for projects are starting to pop up more and more and hopefully it will be enough to keep the anime world going in a positive direction.

Bizarre Twist #3: If you've noticed, @anime! has gotten another facelift. (Editor's Note: As of 2016, the facelift has recently been changed. We consolidated the design for all of the issues.) During the time out, I was able to get an affiliate advertising contract setup with Snowball.com's IGN website. There were a few reasons for this. One, it will allow us to pay for the server space that @anime! and several other sites resides on. Two, it will help spread the word about @anime! to many more people than we ever could by ourselves. And Three, IGN is just a cool place for all things entertainment. There will be lots of ads coming onto your screens in future issues of @anime! If you see something that interests you, click on through. There are also some other plans for @anime! that will be developing in the coming months. As things progress, details will be shared. Until then, keep reading!

Bizarre Twist #4: And my final note here for this issue's editdesk editorial... We were all getting set up for a nice release date at the end of July when something totally unexpected hit. On July 25th, I had gotten home from my new job later than normal and not a minute after I walked through the door, the phone rang. It was my parents on the other end. They had told me that my 17-year old brother Jeffery had passed away. It was totally unexpected. Until that day, my family had never dealt with a situation like that. What followed was a difficult 2-week period as I flew back to Utah to be with the rest of the family. In retrospect on my brother's life, he was a great young man. There were many things that we found out about him from others that we had never known, like how much he gave of himself to help others. Jeff was pretty much a quiet one. He loved to dance and sing. He was also the family's resident Japanese fanatic. He spoke Japanese fairly well. He loved talking about all things Japan. Origami was typically how he spent his spare time. And, yes, he loved to watch anime. As the old adage goes, you don't know what you've got until you lose it. As a publisher, I have the great honor to dedicate this issue of @anime! to my brother. The world has lost a great asset and he will be greatly missed by myself and all who knew him.